Identity Of Wrestler Used As Randy Orton Decoy On WWE SmackDown

A Randy Orton lookalike was used on WWE SmackDown to outsmart John Cena, and it happened to be an NXT wrestler.

The main event of WWE Backlash in St. Louis will see John Cena defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Randy Orton.

It is a match that WWE is billing as “One Last Time” since Cena is retiring at the end of this year. Cena and Orton first wrestled 25 years ago at WWE’s developmental territory OVW and would go on to wrestle dozens of times on the WWE main roster.

During a main event promo segment on WWE SmackDown in Dayton, Ohio, John Cena claimed that Randy Orton wasn’t at the show because he was home in St. Louis getting ready for Backlash.

After Cena spent about ten minutes bashing Orton and the fans, a wrestler in a hoodie appeared to try to attack Cena, but Cena was ready for him and Cena gave him the Attitude Adjustment.

The WWE Champion celebrated hitting his finishing move, but that was when Randy Orton appeared behind Cena, so when Cena turned around, Orton dropped Cena with a massive RKO, much to the crowd’s delight. To end the show, Orton posed with the WWE Title over a fallen Cena.

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Is this a preview of what's to come TOMORROW at #WWEBacklash?! 😱#SmackDownpic.twitter.com/NEXX2je0j0

— WWE (@WWE) May 10, 2025

Randy Orton’s Decoy On SmackDown Was NXT’s Shawn Spears

Regarding the wrestler in the hoodie who tried to attack Cena, that was NXT’s Shawn Spears, who leads The Culling group.

The tattoos of the wrestler in the hoodie match Spears. Plus, his face was seen quickly at one point in the segment. Also, Spears was wearing black tape around the bottom half of his forearms because his sleeve tattoos don’t go as far as Orton’s, so the tape was used to cover Spears’ skin.